Finland's Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said Monday most European Union member countries are prepared to recognize Kosovo's independence from Serbia. VOA's Barry Wood reports Kanerva is in Washington meeting with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday said she hopes Serbia will accept a resolution of Kosovo's status and move forward to fuller integration with Europe. Kosovo, a Serbian province administered by the United Nations since 1999, is expected to declare independence within days. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Statelessness in Kyrgyzstan, as in other Central Asian countries, is a neglected problem. Its exact extent is unclear, with estimated numbers ranging from 10,000 to 100,000, but as part of the 2009 census, the State Committee on Migration in coordination with the United Nations Refugee Agency, which has a mandate for stateless persons, is undertaking a survey on statelessness.

About 3,000 Kosovans took part in a pro-independence rally in the capital, Pristina, today as their government vowed to break away permanently from Serbia early next year.The demonstration came as today's deadline for a negotiated deal on the fate of the breakaway province passed without result, and as EU foreign ministers met to discuss increasing tension over Kosovo.

"In Turkey, many Turks have a keen interest in Korea, seeing our bilateral relationship as one between blood brothers. On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, I hope that this 'one-sided love' of Turks for Koreans will develop into a warm relationship of mutual love."

Mark Seidenfeld, a 39-year-old American telecommunications executive, lived for years in this booming alpine city as a prominent executive, one of thousands of foreign businessmen who shuttled around town in chauffeured SUVs as they managed Kazakhstan's transition from Communism to one of the most sophisticated market economies in the former Soviet Union.